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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26892133">Once more, with hindsight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmberGirl/pseuds/TheEmberGirl'>TheEmberGirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, But he's a bitch, Gen, I'm on the fence with jet too, Kinda, Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Sokka/Suki, Only Main characters tagged, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Toph joins the gaang early, Yue (Avatar) Lives, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), characters tagged in order of appearance (kinda), it's all fun and games with a small dose of feels at the start, zhao still dies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:54:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,517</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26892133</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmberGirl/pseuds/TheEmberGirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aang's will isn't strong enough when he attempts to use energybending on Fire Lord Ozai and his spirit is corrupted.<br/>The spirits aren't happy with that. So when the Avatar and his friends next open their eyes, they are back almost a year ago, when a beam of light near the South Pole first announced the return of the Avatar to the world.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>560</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Gaang don't do as well on the day of Sozin's Comet as they do in canon, but luckily for them, they get to have a do-over</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fun fact: I almost named this "Once more, with honour" but this isn't just a Zuko-centric time travel fic... Even if he might get more screen time as my fave. Another potential title was "Once more, with friendship" but that was just a little too cheesy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Far above the Earth Kingdom, Sokka felt his fingers slipping from his handhold above and Toph’s clammy hand sliding away his below as the sky lit up in red and blue.</p>
<p>In the heart of the Fire Nation, Katara was desperately, hopelessly, trying to heal Zuko as Azula screamed and struggled against her chains.</p>
<p>The blue in the sky grew ever smaller, until it was entirely swallowed by the red.</p>
<p>In the Fire Nation, Zuko stopped breathing.</p>
<p>Above the Earth Kingdom, Toph and Sokka began to fall.</p><hr/>
<p>“Will you go penguin sledding with me?” Aang heard himself say before he paused and frowned.</p>
<p>Leaning over him, Katara and Sokka were wearing similar expressions.</p>
<p>“Katara? Sokka?” He ventured.</p>
<p>“Aang!” They exclaimed and he was immediately enveloped into a three-way hug.</p>
<p>“So what happened?” Sokka asked when they finally let go of each other. “One moment I was falling from an airship as the sky turned the most horrible red I’ve ever seen and then I was here.”</p>
<p>“It’s a long story,” Aang replied.</p>
<p>Then he told them about the lion turtle, energybending, losing to Ozai’s will, and waking up here.</p>
<p>“I guess we’re being given a second chance now,” he finished.</p>
<p>A silence fell as they all took a moment to process what he’d said.</p>
<p>“Well, we’d best wake up Appa then,” Katara was the one who broke the silence, still looking a little dazed. “Zuko will be here any time now, and we need to protect the village if he didn’t come back with us.”</p>
<p>Aang does exactly that. Once they’re all safely seated on Appa and making their way towards the Water Tribe village, Sokka turned to Katara.</p>
<p>“What happened in the Fire Nation?” He asked her. He’s noticed that she’s been acting oddly ever since they’ve come back.</p>
<p>“Zuko died,” Katara admitted after a brief silence. Her next words come out in a jumble. “He died after saving me and now we might need to fight him again.”</p>
<p>Then she explained Azula’s insanity, the Agni Kai, how Zuko took the lightning meant for her, how she’d failed to save him, and how she’d opened her eyes to the South Pole and Aang after closing them in despair.</p>
<p>Beside her and guiding Appa in front of her, Sokka and Aang listened in silence.</p><hr/>
<p>“Helmsman! Head a course for the light!” Zuko found himself shouting then froze.</p>
<p>The air around him was cold, and he was standing on the deck of a ship that hadn’t existed for the better part of a year, watching the light that had announced the Avatar’s return fade from the sky. His last memory had been of himself struggling to stay conscious as Katara fought his sister, pain coursing through his body from the lightning he’d failed to properly redirect. Either he was now dreaming, or something must have gone very wrong if he’d truly ended up in the past. Around him, his crew were already following his order, and in a few hours they’ll have reached the South Pole. There he’d find his friends, if they would even trust him at this stage. Zuko tried to run his hands through his hair and was reminded that he still wore it in a prince’s phoenix tail at this point in time. He gave up and began to pace instead, thinking furiously. The course was already set, and his men would find it strange if his personality changed too suddenly, so he had act carefully while trying not remake any of his mistakes from the past. Taking deep breaths to clear his mind, Zuko slowly began to come up with a plan.</p><hr/>
<p>In the Water Tribe village at the South Pole, Katara and Sokka introduced Aang to their Gran Gran once again. Though this time he is introduced as the Avatar straightaway and not just as an airbender. They also told her what they knew of the future, which she eventually believed after an impressive bending display from Katara.</p>
<p>“The prince of the Fire Nation will be here very soon, looking for the Avatar,” Sokka informed the village. “Now we have advantage with an Avatar who can bend all four elements, a master waterbender, and a master swordsman. But even with that advantage people might get hurt and the village might get damaged. So, our plan is for Aang to pretend to surrender to get the firebenders to leave, and then we’ll rescue him again like we did last time.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t mention that they’re holding out for the hope that Zuko also remembers the future; their story was farfetched enough as it was without trying to convince anyone that the Fire Prince might actually be on their side. The villagers agreed without much protest, which wasn’t surprising given they were mostly mothers and children.</p>
<p>By now, Katara had come back to herself and happily took the children penguin sledding with Aang, making sure they didn’t stray too far from the village. This time, even Sokka joined them, despite his disapproval the first time around. It made this second chance feel much more real and helped them to push away the memories of the events on the day of Sozin’s Comet.</p>
<p>But all too soon, the silhouette of a Fire Nation warship was spotted on the horizon and it was time to return to the village to enact their plan.</p><hr/>
<p>For the last few hours Zuko had been planning what to do when they reached the South Pole with his uncle. Of course, he also had another plan which he was keeping to himself for now. He didn’t want to start explaining the events of the future until he found out whether or not he was the only one who’d returned. Even then he’d have to be careful to only let Uncle know so that his crew wouldn’t have to arrest him for treason, or worse, be implicated by him. Zuko wondered if he’d already made Uncle suspicious by agreeing with him so easily.</p>
<p>“There are only a few Water Tribe members still living at the South Pole; all women and children with no more waterbenders. You know, what you saw there might not even have been the Avatar, Prince Zuko.” Iroh had said when Zuko had asked about the South Pole.</p>
<p>Which was exactly what Zuko needed to hear to make his plan work.</p>
<p>“I’ll take less men with me when we land then,” he’d replied. “I’ll promise them we’ll leave peacefully if the Avatar surrenders. If there’s less soldiers they’ll be less likely to panic and see the best thing to do is to just hand over this 100-year-old coward who’s been hiding in their tiny village.” He’d quickly added, watching carefully for his uncle’s reaction.</p>
<p>Iroh had just chuckled.</p>
<p>“Prince Zuko, I believe you’ve finally been listening to my talks about strategy.” He’d said with pride.</p>
<p>“I guess they’re useful sometimes,” Zuko had pretended to scoff, despite the mixture of relief and happiness he was actually feeling.</p>
<p>Now he was standing on the gangplank of his ship, which he’d instructed the crew to anchor down before it hit the ice. Scanning the villagers gathered before him, he recognised Katara and Sokka in the crowd watching him warily. They looked the same as the first time he’d seen them, and he began to worry. Sokka hadn’t immediately rushed him like last time, but then again, this change might have been accounted for by Zuko himself doing things differently this time. He really hoped Sokka wouldn’t throw his boomerang again, as he wasn’t wearing a helmet this time.</p>
<p>“We have reason to believe that the Avatar is here,” he said clearly and with more calm than he felt as stepped onto the snow, flanked by only two of his crew. “Hand him over and I promise we’ll leave peacefully.”</p>
<p>“What are you talking about—” Katara began, only to be cut off by Aang flying in on his glider.</p>
<p>“It’s alright,” he said to Katara as he landed, before facing Zuko with resolution. “I’m the Avatar, I’ll come with you if you leave them alone.”</p>
<p>“But you’re so young,” Zuko replied almost mournfully, not quite sticking to the script as he thought of those last days on Ember Island. They were all too young to be fighting this war but yet that was what they were doing. He turned back to the ship and gestured for the two crew members he brought to lead Aang away, completely missing the considering look the airbender had shot at him.</p>
<p>“Head a course to the Fire Nation, I’m going home.” He commanded, getting back into character. He’d almost slipped in front of his men earlier and couldn’t take any more chances just yet.</p><hr/>
<p>Katara and Sokka watched as Aang was led away. They waited until the ship was out of sight before gathering the supplies they’d packed earlier and saying another goodbye to Gran Gran. Then they bought Appa out from where he’d been hidden and chased after Zuko’s warship once more.</p>
<p>This time they got Appa to fly right away.</p>
<p>“It was different this time,” Katara said once they were in the air.</p>
<p>“It was,” Sokka agreed. “But that might have just been us changing things, like not setting off that flare from the Fire Nation shipwreck. We shouldn’t get our hopes up to high just yet.”</p>
<p>“I guess you’re right,” Katara sighed. “We’ll just have to see if Aang has found anything out once we rescue him.”</p>
<p>They flew on in silence, neither sibling looking forward to fighting their once enemy turned close friend who might just have become an enemy again.</p><hr/>
<p>Aboard the warship, Aang frowned as Zuko took his glider again.</p>
<p>“This staff will make an excellent gift for my father,” Zuko sneered at him. “I suppose you wouldn’t know about fathers, being raised by monks.”</p>
<p>He’d been almost certain a few minutes ago that Zuko had come back from the future as well, but now things were happening exactly as they had in the past.</p>
<p>“Take the Avatar to the prison hold. And take this to my quarters.”</p>
<p>Zuko handed the glider to his uncle as Aang was led into the depths of the ship.</p>
<p>Once again, Aang gave his guards the slip and began to search for his staff. He briefly considered going to Iroh’s room on purpose this time and talking to him about the Order of the White Lotus, but decided it could wait. Once again, he found his glider in Zuko’s room, and once again Zuko slammed the door behind him as soon as he entered.</p>
<p>This time Aang was ready and whirled around in a defensive stance, anticipating any attack. This time he had the advantage: already having the ability to bend all four elements; he could deflect any fire sent his way as well as bending air.</p>
<p>It wasn’t necessary. Unlike last time, Zuko stood still at the door, not in a fighting stance but tensed in an awkward but non-threatening way.</p>
<p>“Hello, Zuko here,” he said cautiously.</p>
<p>Aang immediately grinned.</p>
<p>“Zuko!” He exclaimed cheerfully before taking an airbending assisted leap across the room to hug his friend.</p>
<p>“Hi Aang,” Zuko wheezed, winded from Aang’s collision hug. “Good to see you too.”</p>
<p>“What happened?” Aang asked when he finally let go. “Katara said you died.”</p>
<p>“I did?” Zuko sounded confused. “I figured Katara could heal me… What happened to you? Wait no – never mind we don’t have time. I’m glad you’re back too because it means I can go through with my plan.”</p>
<p>“Plan?” Aang asked, now as confused as Zuko sounded earlier.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Zuko replied earnestly. “I’ve thought about it; this time you guys need to kidnap <em>me</em>.”</p>
<p>“<em>What</em>?” Aang wasn’t sure what plan he’d expected from Zuko, but this definitely wasn’t it.</p>
<p>“Look, it’s the easiest way for me to join you without getting anyone else in trouble or raising suspicion,” he explained. “I’ve already written a letter for Uncle to find once I’m gone, all you have to do is find a way to tell Sokka and Katara to grab me when they get here.”</p>
<p>Shouting from above cut off any more questions from Aang.</p>
<p>“Looks like your rescuers are here,” Zuko said wryly.</p>
<p>Without another word, he began to knock things over around the room.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Aang asked as he watched Zuko pull down a tapestry. Everything was happening a little too fast for him to process.</p>
<p>“Staging a fight,” Zuko replied without stopping. “Grab your glider and go! I’ll follow you in a few minutes!”</p>
<p>Aang didn’t need to be told twice. He exited the room the same way as he had the first time and found himself on the deck, where Sokka and Katara were already fighting with Zuko’s crew. Just as they’d agreed on earlier, neither of the Water Tribe siblings were putting their full efforts into the fight, purposefully making their moves clumsier to keep their true abilities hidden.</p>
<p>“Aang!” Sokka called when he saw him, tripping a crew member over.</p>
<p>“Sokka! Katara!” Aang responded excitedly. “Good news— Uh… I got out!”</p>
<p>He had been about to tell them about Zuko also being back from the future but realised that blurting it out in front of all these people might just cause the trouble Zuko had been worried about.</p>
<p>Sokka didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with what Aang said.</p>
<p>“What are you waiting for then? Let’s get out of here!”</p>
<p>He gave a nod to Katara, who immediately froze all the men they’d been fighting before they both ran towards Appa.</p>
<p>Aang hesitated, thinking about Zuko’s plan. He stayed put even as Sokka clambered onto Appa and Katara turned around to wait for him.</p>
<p>“Aang, hurry up!” Katara called from Appa’s tail. “They’re coming!”</p>
<p>In response, Aang glanced behind himself. Sure enough, there was Zuko, running up from below deck, followed by more of his weapon brandishing crew.</p><hr/>
<p>While Aang was making his way above deck, Zuko had continued making his room look like an airbender had fought their way through it. Once he was happy with the state of mess, he waited a little longer before moving. He needed to wait long enough so that the ease of Aang escaping wasn’t too suspicious, but not so long that his crew would come checking on him.</p>
<p>He might have just waited a little too long.</p>
<p>Zuko almost jumped as someone rapped on his door.</p>
<p>“Sir?” A voice outside called tentatively.</p>
<p>Zuko took a deep breath, then flung the door open with what he hoped was the adequate amount of fury that would be expected from him.</p>
<p>“I’m fine!” he yelled. “The Avatar’s escaped, he’s heading for the deck!”</p>
<p>With that, Zuko stormed past the men gathered outside his door and ran for the deck. He surveyed the scene before him when he reached it. The crew members trapped in ice, the Water Tribe siblings already on Appa, and Aang seemingly rooted to the spot. He came to the conclusion that Aang must have been unable to tell the others about the plan. Aware of the men catching up behind him and noticing his uncle stepping onto the deck with a yawn, Zuko knew he had to act quickly. There was no way that Aang could convincingly take him hostage in this situation without the help of the others, and even then, it would be a close call. Therefore, the Avatar and his friends would have to make an escape without him. And when that happened, Zuko would be expected to give an order to shoot them down as he did last time. Which was something he’d rather not do.</p>
<p>He made his decision.</p>
<p>Summoning twin daggers of flames to his hands, Zuko charged at Aang, hoping he’d play along. <em>Come on, Aang,</em> he thought, <em>I need you to airbend at me</em>. Aang’s eyes widened, then he seemed to notice the similarity of the situation to that of their ‘impromptu training session’ on Ember Island. With a quick grin, Aang used the same airbending move he’d back then, aiming at Zuko’s feet. This was exactly what Zuko had wanted. Despite the fact that Aang had purposefully missed him, Zuko used the air blast as an excuse to propel himself backwards and then over the side of his ship.</p>
<p>“Zuko!” He heard his uncle cry out as he fell.</p>
<p><em>Sorry Uncle</em>, he thought as he allowed himself to plummet into the freezing water this time instead of grabbing onto a chain on his way down. He needed to create a big enough distraction to prevent his crew from continuing to pursue the escapees and putting himself in danger was the best way to achieve that. From the water, Zuko watched Appa fly away as, back aboard the ship, men panicked, and Uncle ordered them to cut the engines and fish him out. By the time Zuko was safely back onboard his warship with a blanket draped over his shoulders, the sky bison and its passengers were already long gone.</p>
<p>“Good news for the Fire Lord; the Fire Nation’s greatest threat is just a little kid.” His uncle said in a way meant to be comforting.</p>
<p>Zuko didn’t reply to him, he was already trying to figure out how to start explaining his next plans. So when Uncle asked him if he would like some warming ginger tea, Zuko agreed without protest.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I almost ended this chapter with "hello, Zuko here" and was tempted to end it again with "you guys need to kidnap me"</p><p>I've kinda mashed up a few of my favourite ideas/concepts here:<br/>I've read a few AtLA time travel fics but I just really wanted one where the entire Gaang goes back and Zuko decides the best way to join early is to get himself kidnapped. So I went and wrote it. I would really like a fic where S3 Zuko ends up in the same room as S1 Zuko and is just so very done with himself, but I wouldn't write it. But I also love time travel fics where the traveller wakes up in the past mid-sentence and has to deal with the consequences of that. So this was the next best thing: S3 Zuko having to deal with the consequences of what his S1 self has already done.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nice to see you again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Zuko continues with the hammy acting, and Suki and Toph make an appearance</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First off, I'd like to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! This is the first AtLA fanfic I've written in years and I'm just so amazed and grateful for incredible amount of kudos and lovely comments that you guys have left me. I've never had such a positive reaction to any of my fics before and it appreciate it so very much.</p>
<p>Secondly, I'm sorry for how long it took to finish writing this chapter. The original outline I had felt too rushed when I first wrote it and I went back and added new scenes multiple times until I was finally happy with it. Additionally the pandemic restrictions in my state eased soon after I posted the first chapter and suddenly I had work, uni and social commitments again and much less time and motivation for writing. (We're back in lockdown again this week, which may or may not be the reason I have time to write again.)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In retrospect, “Zuko wants us to kidnap him” was probably a weird first thing to blurt at your friends right after they ‘rescued’ you from said Fire Nation prince. But that was exactly what Aang had done as soon as the ship faded from sight. He was a little worried about his friend after seeing him fly into the ocean. After all, that air blast wasn’t meant to hit Zuko that hard.</p>
<p>“<em>What</em>?” Sokka spluttered, nearly falling from his position above Appa’s head.</p>
<p>“Careful,” Katara admonished him, before looking disbelievingly at Aang. “Wait what?” She repeated.</p>
<p>“See? That’s exactly what I said when he first told me what he was planning!”</p>
<p>Aang was glad to see that his friends’ reactions echoed his own.</p>
<p>“Are you saying that Zuko’s back as well?” Katara asked hopefully.</p>
<p>“Yeah that’s right!”</p>
<p>“You know, you could have started with that,” Sokka pointed out with a sour expression, having rebalanced himself on Appa.</p>
<p>“Oh right,” Aang rubbed sheepishly at the back of his head. “I didn’t think about that.”</p>
<p>Sokka smacked his forehead and groaned.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t tell you guys on the ship because there were too many people and Zuko didn’t want anyone to know.” Aang continued blithely, ignoring Sokka.</p>
<p>“Not even Iroh?” Katara asked dubiously.</p>
<p>“Eh,” Aang shrugged. “You guys got there too quickly, so we didn’t have long to talk, but he did say something about explaining it to Iroh.”</p>
<p>“So what’s the plan now?” Sokka asked after taking his answer in. “Where do I need to direct Appa?”</p>
<p>“Easy, first we’ll go to the Southern Air Temple to pick up Momo,” Aang began brightly. “Then we’ll go to Kyoshi Island to find Suki, who might also remember the future as well. And then we can stay there until Zuko gets there – that’s where he first found us last time.”</p>
<p>“What, no riding the elephant koi this time?” Sokka teased. “Sounds like a good plan though. Let’s just hope Zuko leaves Kyoshi Island intact this time.” He finished with a laugh.</p>
<p>“And I hope you don’t get beaten up by a <em>bunch of girls</em> again, Sokka.” Katara snickered.</p>
<p>“Whatever, Katara,” Sokka grumbled. Then a lovestruck expression drifted into his eyes. “I can’t wait to see Suki again.”</p>
<p>“Well, I <em>definitely</em> won’t ride the Unagi this time.” Aang quipped.</p>
<p>They all laughed, and the banter continued as they flew on.</p><hr/>
<p>Uncle was looking at him with so much love and pride that Zuko’s heart hurt as he finished telling his story. He hadn’t left a single detail out. Not even about his past (<em>future?</em>) betrayals, yet Uncle had just sat and there and continued listening without any anger or judgement, occasionally moving to refill both their teacups.</p>
<p>“You have become a man you should be proud of,” Iroh told him. “And I’m sure you already know that I am so very proud of you too.”</p>
<p>Zuko felt tears well in his eyes. Uncle had forgiven him once before, but he had been irrationally afraid of how <em>this</em> Uncle would react once Zuko had told him all that he’d done.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Uncle,” he said as his voice broke.</p>
<p>Immediately Uncle stood up to give him a hug.</p>
<p>“You’ve been through so much,” Iroh said. “I’m glad you decided to tell me.”</p>
<p>“You suspected?” Zuko asked as when they broke apart, something about the way his uncle has spoken told him that Iroh knew he was hiding something. “I thought I was playing the part quite well.” He added almost petulantly.</p>
<p>“Oh, you <em>did</em> play the part quite well,” Iroh chuckled as he stroked his beard, thinking about his nephew’s love of theatre. “Though you might have agreed with me a little too much. But you see, Zuko, I have been to the Spirit World, so I can tell when one has been touched by spirits.”</p>
<p>“Are you saying that the spirits sent us back?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Iroh mused. “You said you didn’t see how the fight between the Avatar and the Fire Lord ended. But if the Avatar failed to bring balance back to the world, the spirits could very well have decided to intervene.</p>
<p>Zuko drank some more tea as he thought about Uncle’s words. He’d have to ask Aang exactly what had happened on the day of Sozin’s Comet when he had the chance.</p>
<p>“So, what is your plan, my dear nephew?” Uncle asked him with knowing smile. “I’m assuming you already have one.”</p>
<p>“I do,” Zuko admitted and he tells his uncle of the only idea he could think of to keep him as well as the rest of the ship’s crew from being implicated in treason.</p>
<p>“Fath—<em> Ozai</em>, won’t care about me being held hostage,” he concluded. “He’ll let you and the rest of the crew go. Then you can join us later. If you want to, of course.”</p>
<p>Iroh was about to protest at the mention of Ozai, but instead he just sighed. He was glad that Zuko was concerned about the crew, but each and every member of it had been handpicked by him for a reason.</p>
<p>“Let me handle the crew,” he told Zuko. “Now, tell me how you are going to make this plan work.”</p>
<p>“I’m going to Kyoshi Island,” Zuko replied. “That’s where I found Aang – the Avatar – again last time. <em>And</em> one of our other friends lives there.”</p>
<p>“But Kyoshi Island is neutral territory.” Uncle warned, and Zuko grinned crookedly back at him.</p>
<p>“That’s why only you and I are going,” he explained. “For reconnaissance. I don’t <em>know</em> if the Avatar will be there, but I <em>suspect </em>he will because of its connection with a previous Avatar. Just the two of us disguised as merchants with no bending so we don’t violate neutrality…”</p>
<p>He didn’t need to go into more detail for Uncle to understand exactly what he was planning. Uncle laughed heartily and clapped him on the shoulder.</p>
<p>“You really have been taking my talks on strategy to heart!”</p><hr/>
<p>The trip to the Southern Air temple went off without a hitch. Momo was found, the inner sanctum was left alone, and Aang didn’t announce his return to the world by going into the Avatar State.</p><hr/>
<p>“You were right! A flying bison carrying three kids just flew onto the island today!” A Kyoshi Warrior announced breathlessly as she ran to find Suki in the training building. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” She added once she’d caught her breath.</p>
<p>Suki smiled, the day she’d been waiting for since she’d returned to the past almost a week ago had come.</p>
<p>“Let’s go greet them,” she said. “I think there’s no need to tie up the Avatar this time.”</p>
<p>Her friends were just as excited to see her as she was to see them, pulling her into a group hug as soon as they realised she recognised them.</p>
<p>She’d already packed her bags in anticipation of their arrival and now she called for any warrior who was willing to travel to the mainland to aid the Earth Kingdom in the war.</p>
<p>Aang told her that they needed to wait for Zuko.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, he’s back like us,” he said, much to her relief.</p>
<p>Suki had warmed up to the prince readily after their prison break together, and he’d made for a good sparring partner, it would have been disappointing if he didn't remember he was on their side.</p>
<p>“Hopefully, he doesn’t burn down the village this time,” she joked.</p>
<p>“That’s exactly what <em>I </em>said!” Sokka crowed and Suki smiled fondly at him even as Katara elbowed him in the ribs.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t have been surprising to them that Zuko was already on the island.</p>
<p>“Suki!’ A Kyoshi Warrior ran up and reported. “The tea merchants who arrived this morning are acting suspiciously. They were saying they’d heard a rumour about the Avatar returning. And just now as the sky bison landed, they sailed out of the port towards a beach south of the village.”</p>
<p>“Tea merchants, huh?” Sokka asked, sharing a look with the rest of the group.</p>
<p>“Yes, two men. One old, one young.” The warrior confirmed. “On a very small boat, but the tea they had was all high quality.”</p>
<p>The group shared another look. It had to be them.</p>
<p>“Avatar Aang,” Suki said formally. “Would you like to help us apprehend these suspicious people?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Aang replied. “And my friends would be glad to help as well.”</p><hr/>
<p>Zuko wasn’t even trying to be subtle when they found him. He and Iroh were standing at the edge of the woods opening onto the beach, dressed in Earth Kingdom greens. The boat in the water was empty, with all the cargo crates offloaded onto the shore.</p>
<p>“That was the Avatar’s bison that just landed,” Zuko was saying quite loudly. “I knew he would come to this island.”</p>
<p>From their vantage point in the trees, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors saw Iroh give Zuko a look. Zuko sighed and muttered something they couldn’t hear. Then he raised his voice again, though it was slightly lower this time.</p>
<p>“What’s taking the ship so long? We got the signal out, didn’t we? Let’s just go back in and grab the Avatar.”</p>
<p>Sokka raised an eyebrow at Aang from his tree. In the tree opposite his, Aang shrugged back at him. He wasn’t sure what Zuko was playing at either. Katara shook her head at their antics. Around them, the Kyoshi Warriors glanced restlessly at Suki.</p>
<p>She nodded.</p>
<p>Together they dropped from the trees at the same time.</p>
<p>Zuko’s surprise at seeing them definitely wasn’t faked. He recovered quickly though.</p>
<p>“There you are, Avatar,” he growled. “Hiding away in yet another village?”</p>
<p>A barrage of fans flew at him. Zuko dodged them all. There were no flames this time. All the same, Sokka reached for his boomerang, just for old times’ sake.</p>
<p>“Uncle, take the boat and go get back up!” Zuko yelled. “I’ll hold them off!”</p>
<p>He kicked open the nearest crate and pulled a pair of broadswords out from it. Then he did as he promised, blocking fans, water, gusts of air and even Sokka’s boomerang with his swords as Iroh made his escape.</p>
<p>Judging from the last time he’d set foot on her island, and even from their sparring matches before Sozin’s Comet arrived, Suki could tell Zuko was holding back. Once Iroh was safely over the horizon, having somehow avoided the Unagi, Zuko stopped fighting. The group of people surrounding him watched him warily, some in more half-hearted fighting stances than others.</p>
<p>“I surrender?” Zuko said, dropping his swords alongside his previously aggressive demeanour. “Uncle isn’t actually getting backup either.”</p>
<p>Suki gave a signal her warriors. They sprang into action, quickly incapacitating Zuko and confiscating his swords and the other cargo crates.</p>
<p>“Ha, now it’s your turn to get ambushed!” Sokka said smugly as Zuko was tied up.</p>
<p>“He actually fought then surrendered,” Katara pointed out. “We just got grabbed last time.”</p>
<p>“Whatever, whatever.” Sokka brushed her off with a wave of his hand.</p>
<p>They had to admit Sokka was right though. It was a sight to behold – the prince of the Fire Nation being carried unceremoniously to the village centre and tied to the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. This time however, instead of the whole village being present to interrogate the ‘Fire Nation spy’, it was just four friends and a few rather confused Kyoshi Warriors.</p>
<p>Suki removed the blindfold from Zuko.</p>
<p>“That,” she told him. “Was revenge for burning down my village.”</p>
<p>“But I didn’t even do that this time around!” Zuko protested. “I did that whole act on the beach specifically to avoid doing that.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we can call it even now,” Suki said calmly, simultaneously amused and touched by this information. She cut the ropes free with her fan. “I’m glad you’re back.”</p>
<p>“I’m, uh, glad you’re back too. I—”</p>
<p>Whatever Zuko intended to say next was cut off in an indignant squawk as he was pulled into a group hug.</p><hr/>
<p>Naturally, the crew were concerned when Iroh returned to the ship alone.</p>
<p>“General Iroh, where is Prince Zuko?” Lieutenant Jee asked when Iroh was lifted back up in the smaller vessel without his nephew.</p>
<p>“Our cover didn’t hold up as well as we thought it would and we were forced to abandon the mission,” Iroh informed them. He didn’t have to try very hard to look worried when Zuko was concerned. “We were ambushed by the Kyoshi Warriors while making our escape and my nephew was unfortunately captured.”</p>
<p>He sighed, casting another worried look towards Kyoshi Island. Hopefully Zuko would do fine without him.</p>
<p>“Should we launch an attack on the island then?” Lieutenant Jee questioned.</p>
<p>Iroh shook his head.</p>
<p>“The Avatar hasn’t been declared a fugitive of the Fire Nation yet,” he said. “Kyoshi Island is neutral in this war and they were within rights to apprehend us as spies. I’m afraid launching an attack would cause us more trouble than it’s worth.”</p>
<p>“So we’re not going to do anything?” One of the crew asked disbelievingly. “What are <em>they</em> going to do when they find out they have a prince on their hands?”</p>
<p>“Under normal circumstances I believe they might have ransomed him back to us,” Iroh replied calmly. He wasn’t sure who’d spoken but it’d caused a ripple of unease through the gathered men. Despite his nephew’s constantly foul moods, the crew were still concerned about him. <em>Good</em>. “However, the Kyoshi Warriors said they were planning to take us to the Avatar for questioning.”</p>
<p>More mutters broke out among the crew as they remembered the fight that had taken place just a few days prior. Iroh cleared his throat and continued with the story he and Zuko had fabricated beforehand.</p>
<p>“Given that Prince Zuko insisted that I leave without him when he heard that, I believe he had a plan,” he reasoned. “We should wait and see what happens before making our next move.”</p>
<p>“Sir, this seems a little dangerous,” a different crew member spoke up this time.</p>
<p>Iroh gave a rueful chuckle and shook his head.</p>
<p>“It’s no more dangerous than anything else my nephew has done before,” he said. “Besides, I don’t believe the Avatar or his companions mean Prince Zuko any harm. And it would probably do him some good to spend some time with people his own age.”</p>
<p>He cast a meaningful eye over the men he was addressing, and despite having some misgivings they all seemed to agree. After all, they had all been carefully handpicked by him.</p>
<p>“We’ll get him out if things go wrong,” he told them. “But I don’t expect anything will. In the meantime, no one is to know that Prince Zuko is not aboard this ship.”</p>
<p>Later that night, a single messenger hawk flew towards Kyoshi Island.</p><hr/>
<p>Despite their confusion, the Kyoshi Warriors didn’t question their leader when she returned the weapons they’d confiscated back to the ‘Fire Nation spy’ they’d captured earlier. One of the most unbelievable parts of Suki’s tales about the future was her claim that the Fire Prince had been on their side. But since the Avatar and his friends had indeed shown up on a flying bison, they were more inclined to believe her. So they agreed to keep the events of the day a secret, and that night Avatar Aang and his friends Katara, Sokka and ‘Lee’ were treated as honoured guests on Kyoshi Island.</p><hr/>
<p>The next morning, even as the statue of Avatar Kyoshi was repainted and children begged Aang to show them another airbending trick, the Avatar and his friends left the island. It had been tempting to stay and enjoy the hospitality of the locals, but they'd learnt their lesson last time.</p>
<p>The cargo crates Zuko and Iroh had brought with them turned out to be were filled with supplies. So now they had no shortage of dried rations, coin, camping gear, and of course, tea for their journey. There were also several changes of clothes and a Blue Spirit mask within the crates.</p>
<p>“What’d you bring that for?” Sokka asked when he saw it.</p>
<p>Zuko shrugged.</p>
<p>“It might just come in handy,” he replied.</p>
<p>Soon they were high above the ground upon Appa, and the five friends decided on where they were heading next.</p>
<p>“Gaoling,” Aang said. “To find Toph. If we all remember the future, she probably does as well.”</p>
<p>“We’d better hurry then,” Zuko said with a knowing smile. “Before she destroys her parents’ house. Or even all of Gaoling.” He added as an afterthought.</p>
<p>They all laughed in agreeance. Then the conversation turned to recounting what had happened on the day of Sozin’s Comet.</p>
<p>“What happened to you?” Sokka asked Suki.</p>
<p>“I hijacked an airship and was steering it toward where I last saw you and Toph,” Suki told him. “Then the sky turned a red so awful I had to shut my eyes. And when I opened them again, I was back home on Kyoshi Island.”</p>
<p>Sokka remembered falling and decided not to tell Suki she’d been too late.</p>
<p>“Yeah, same here,’ he said instead.</p>
<p>After that, nobody spoke for a while, each lost to their own thoughts.</p>
<p>Katara watched as Sokka and Suki leaned into each other, their fingers intertwined. Aang kept one hand on Appa’s reins as he scratched Momo’s ears with the other. Still dressed in green, Zuko absentmindedly stroked the feathers of a messenger hawk sitting on his shoulder.</p>
<p>Ahead of them, the outline of the Earth Kingdom's coast grew ever closer.</p><hr/>
<p>By nightfall, they had made it to the foothills a short distance away from Gaoling, where they decided to set up camp. Even though they were still missing Toph, the familiarity of their actions was comforting.</p>
<p>Firewood was quickly collected through everyone’s effort, and the campfire was lit by Aang after Zuko insisted he still needed to practice his firebending. Katara carefully watched the pot where their dinner of dried food from their supplies and fresh herbs Sokka and Suki had gathered simmered away over a fire which flickered in tune with the breathing of two mediating firebenders. In the near distance she could hear the scuffling sounds and occasional burst of laughter as Sokka and Suki sparred.</p>
<p>The good mood continued as the food finished cooking and everyone served themselves dinner. As they ate, Sokka made a jab about how bad Katara’s cooking had been at this point in their journey previously. Aang immediately complimented her on being a great cook <em>now</em>, and Katara brushed it off and credited the meal’s success to the spices that Iroh had so thoughtfully provided them. Laughter rang around the campfire and after a moment of feigned annoyance, even Katara joined in.</p>
<p>After they had finished eating, Zuko began searching through the packs that he’d brought. The others watched him lazily, full and content and dozing off from the warmth of the fire. Once it was clear he couldn’t find whatever it was that he was looking for, Zuko returned to the group.</p>
<p>“I’m sure one of you has a razor with you,” he said, looking between Sokka and Aang.</p>
<p>“I do,” Sokka confirmed. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Well, technically I’m a traitor again,” Zuko replied with a hint of self-deprecation. “That and I want to grow my hair normally again.” He admitted.</p>
<p>As he expected, this statement was met with a few snorts and grins and Zuko smiled as well. Sokka made a half-hearted attempt getting up before giving up and flopping back down. Beside him, Suki rolled her eyes and elbowed him gently.</p>
<p>“It’s in my packs somewhere,” Sokka said with a stretch and a yawn. “Just go through them and find it yourself.”</p>
<p>It took a bit of searching, but soon Zuko found the razor he was looking for at the bottom of one of Sokka’s bags.</p>
<p>Retreating to the stream that they’d made their campsite beside, Zuko took a deep breath before cutting through his phoenix tail in one clean motion. It was easier this time around, when it was done by his own choice and not through a decision made for him. He looked at the hair in his hand for a moment, then instead of dropping it into the water, he set it aflame, watching as it disintegrated into ashes. Now there would be less potential evidence of him not being where he was supposed to be. Zuko washed his hands in the stream, retrieved the soap from his pocket, and cleaned up what remained of his hair with the razor.</p>
<p>By the time he returned to the group, everyone was already half asleep. Sokka briefly acknowledged Zuko as he slipped the razor back into his pack, before curling back up beside Suki. Aang blinked awake as Momo chittered on his shoulder and following the lemur’s gaze he noticed Zuko had re-joined them.</p>
<p>“Huh, we match now,” he mumbled at the firebender sleepily, before closing his eyes again.</p>
<p>Katara snorted at this exchange, knotted the thread on the shirt she was repairing and set it down with a yawn.</p>
<p>“Should I put it out, or do you want to do it?” She asked, gesturing at her waterskin and the campfire.</p>
<p>“I’ll do it,” Zuko replied. “I’m not going to sleep yet.”</p>
<p>“Suit yourself,” Katara said with another yawn, clambering into her bedroll. “<em>I’m</em> sleeping now.”</p>
<p>Retrieving writing supplies from his own packs, Zuko sat beside what remained of the campfire and wrote a message confirming their wellbeing and next location to his uncle in its dimly flickering light. When he finished writing, he sealed the message and made his way to the messenger hawk dozing upon Appa. Muttering an apology to the bird as he woke it up, then cursing lightly as it nipped at his fingers in indignation, Zuko eventually managed to attach the message to the hawk. Then he gave the hawk a treat and a scratch under the beak before sending it off into the night, willing the campfire to cool to the embers, and settling down to sleep.</p><hr/>
<p>They arrived in Gaoling by mid-afternoon the next day, and the number of guards patrolling the town was immediately obvious. Aang, Katara and Sokka frowned, Suki seemed unaffected, and Zuko pulled the brim of the sunhat he was wearing down even lower.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” Sokka asked a well-dressed man walking past them.</p>
<p>The man scanned their group for a few moments, taking in the odd variety of clothes they were wearing.</p>
<p>“You don’t look like you’re from around here, no wonder you haven’t heard…”</p>
<p>He gestured for them come closer conspiratorially. Aang and Sokka did so readily, while the other three were more hesitant.</p>
<p>“Heard what?” Aang asked, almost bouncing in anticipation.</p>
<p>“Old Lao Beifong had a secret daughter he kept hidden from everyone, and now she’s disappeared!” The man said gleefully. “Isn’t that hilarious?”</p>
<p>The well-dressed began to laugh as if he’d just told an amazing joke. Standing the closest to him, Sokka and Aang pretended to laugh along as they processed that information. <em>Toph was missing?</em></p>
<p>Katara stepped forward and spoke up, her tone indignant.</p>
<p>“How could you laugh at something like this?” she demanded, pointing a finger accusingly at the man. “A young girl is missing and find it funny?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you should be ashamed of yourself!” Suki chimed in. “Making a joke out of a girl’s disappearance! Have you thought about how much danger she could be in?”</p>
<p>The man looked ashamed for a moment then immediately began to defend himself.</p>
<p>“Old man Beifong always thought himself above everyone; even the rest of us nobles.” He explained sullenly.  “He obviously thought his precious daughter was too good for any of our sons and hid her away. Probably wanted to marry her off to a bigger city – Ba Sing Se even. Now the joke’s on him, she’s clearly gotten bored and run off with a servant boy!”</p>
<p>The nobleman seemed vindicated by his own theory and looked expectantly at Sokka and Aang, as if waiting for their agreement.</p>
<p>Katara cut in again before either of them had time to come up with a response</p>
<p>“How do you know that?” she asked, her voice still filled with righteous anger. “You said you’ve never even seen her before?”</p>
<p>“That’s right!” Suki followed her words with a glared.</p>
<p>Once again, the man was at a momentary loss, but quickly began to explain.</p>
<p>“Judging by the ages of Lao Beifong and his wife, their daughter must be a young woman by now.” He appeased, attempting to smile politely at the two girls. “If all those guards don’t find her it’s almost certain she will turn up safe and sound by next year, husband and baby in tow, asking for money from her parents. It won’t be the first time this sort of thing has happened in a noble family.”</p>
<p>Realising this line of questioning was getting them nowhere useful, Sokka shot Katara a look then quickly feigned an interest in the gossip.</p>
<p>“No wonder there’s so many guards then! This must be such a disgrace for the Beifongs!”</p>
<p>“Exactly!”</p>
<p>Finally receiving the response he’d been expecting, the nobleman preened and agreed.</p>
<p>“Wow!” Aang breathed, following suit with wide-eyed innocence. “Has she been missing long?”</p>
<p>“Three days,” the man confided. “If the guards haven’t found her by now, I’d say that little Lady Beifong doesn’t want to be found.”</p>
<p>That, at least, they could all agree upon.</p>
<p>Sokka steered the conversation towards things to do in Gaoling, and after learning that the latest Earth Rumble had just concluded, they thanked and bid goodbye to the nobleman. He smiled amicably at them then a curious look at Zuko – who had stood a little behind the rest of their group and not spoken a word during the entire conversation.</p>
<p>“Is your friend back there always this quiet?” He asked Sokka.</p>
<p>“Nah, but he’s always more interesting when he doesn’t speak.” Sokka replied with a shrug, thinking about the Blue Spirit mask Zuko had brought with him. And with that baffling comment, they parted ways with the noble.</p><hr/>
<p>Given that the last Earth Rumble was already over, Aang, Katara and Sokka concluded that Toph was unlikely to be within Gaoling and was most probably hiding out underground in the foothills of Gaoling. Suki and Zuko – who had not been with the rest of the group when they’d first encountered Toph – listened on with confusion, occasionally shooting each other bewildered looks.</p>
<p>Through this line of thought, the friends found themselves in the hills surrounding Gaoling, watching as Aang concentrated in an earthbending stance, eyes closed and feet bare.</p>
<p>“There’s a whole network of tunnels under here!” He exclaimed finally.</p>
<p>With a resolute flick of his wrists, Aang opened up the earth in front of them, creating a stairway leading downwards.</p>
<p>“Let’s go!” He cheered, bounding down the stairs.</p>
<p>“You know,” said Sokka to nobody in particular. “We could have bought some torches while we were still in town.”</p>
<p>“We don’t need torches,” Zuko said smugly as he lit a flame in one hand and indicated for the others to go before him with the other. “We have two firebenders.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah!” Aang’s voice echoed up from the bottom of the stairs. “I don’t just have to rely on my earth sense!”</p>
<p>Lighting a flame in his hand as well, Aang began to walk towards the far end of the tunnel he was in as Sokka and Katara joined him.</p>
<p>“I can sense some movements further on in the tunnels,” he said.</p>
<p>“Lead the way,” Sokka replied, squinting doubtfully at the darkness ahead of them. “And nobody better start singing the secret tunnel song.”</p>
<p>“What’s the secret tunnel song?” Suki asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.</p>
<p>Following behind her, Zuko looked equally baffled.</p>
<p>Katara waited until Sokka was a few steps in front of her before shaking her head at them.</p>
<p>“<em>You don’t want to know</em>,” she mouthed.</p>
<p>Suki shared a knowing look with her, and they all continued on.</p><hr/>
<p>They found Toph easily. Or more accurately, she found them – suddenly popping out of the ground in front of the group as they rounded a corner.</p>
<p>“Hi—” Aang’s greeting was quickly cut off by Toph.</p>
<p>“Let me guess,” Toph said, wearing a deliberately unimpressed expression. “You’re the Avatar and his friends. You’re here looking for an earthbending teacher and you’re being chased by an angry—”</p>
<p>She suddenly grinned, sensing the other two people in the tunnel.</p>
<p>“Sparky! Is that you?”</p>
<p>“Uh, yes?” Zuko replied as the earth behind his feet seemed to shift in greeting.</p>
<p>His quick reflexes gave him just enough time dissipate the flame he was holding, drop his arms, and brace himself as Toph barrelled into him for a hug.</p>
<p>“Do all of you have to do this?” Zuko grumbled with more exasperation than he actually felt as he extricated himself from Toph’s embrace.</p>
<p>“Yes, that’s what friends are for!” Toph replied before punching him in the arm for good measure. “Hi, Suki!” She added, turning to greet the latter as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.</p>
<p>“Hey, why weren’t you as excited to see me?” Sokka complained now that it was obvious that Toph had also come back from the future.</p>
<p>Toph waved a dismissive hand at him.</p>
<p>“Because Sparky and Suki over there are proof that you all came back as well.” She answered. “But I’m glad you made it off of that airship too.” She added in a quieter tone, before punching Sokka in the arm as well.</p>
<p>Aang took this opportunity the pull everyone into a group hug, and once they broke apart, he finally managed to ask Toph what she was doing in the tunnels.</p><hr/>
<p>Toph had run away from home because her parents thought she was crazy.</p>
<p>She remembered her hand slipping from Sokka’s and the rush of air around her as she fell from the airship, then suddenly she was waking up in her old bed back in Gaoling.</p>
<p>“How did I get here?” She’d asked the servant who’d woken her up for breakfast with her parents. “Where are my friends? Are they okay? Did we win?”</p>
<p>The maid had looked at her blankly.</p>
<p>“Sorry, miss?” She’d asked. “Did you have a nightmare?”</p>
<p>Toph had shaken her head and brushed her way out of her room, still in her nightclothes to find her parents.</p>
<p>“What happened when the Avatar fought the Fire Lord?” She’d demanded as she’d entered the dining hall, ignoring the noises of concern and dismay from her mother.</p>
<p>She could hear the frown in her father’s voice as he spoke.</p>
<p>“Surely your history tutor should have taught you about Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin?”</p>
<p>“No, I meant what happened to Aang?” She’d all but screamed with frustration.</p>
<p>“Who?” Her father had asked.</p>
<p>“Toph dear, let’s talk about what food and dresses you want for your twelfth birthday instead.” Her mother had interjected.</p>
<p>Toph had frozen, she’d had her twelfth birthday weeks before Aang and his friends had first shown up at her door.</p>
<p>“What do you mean <em>my twelfth birthday</em>?” She’d pressed. “I’m already twelve! How did you bring me back here? One moment I’m falling from an airship and the next I’m back – here?” The word ‘home’ had almost burst from her mouth and Toph had bitten it back at the last moment.</p>
<p>The sound of porcelain smashing filled the room; her mother had dropped her teacup.</p>
<p>“Servants!” Her father had called. “Take the young lady back to her room and call the doctor! I think she’s running a fever!”</p>
<p>After the servants had finished bundling her back into her room and fussing over her, Toph was finally left alone. She’d immediately changed her clothes and run away into the town, not wanting to stay in the house for a moment longer.</p>
<p>It was there that she realised she’d gone back to the past. It’d taken a lot of piecing together snatches of overheard conversations about drought, bad harvests, fire nation troop moments, and – most telling of all – the latest Earth Rumble number.</p>
<p>The Earth Rumbles were the talk of the town – if you knew where to listen. Which, of course, Toph did. The latest Earth Rumble had already begun. It was Earth Rumble <em>V</em>. The one <em>before</em> Earth Rumble VI, where Aang had temporarily defeated her as Champion by cheating with airbending.</p>
<p>So naturally, Toph had showed up to Earth Rumble V as the Blind Bandit and won as she’d done before. She’d spent all her winnings on preserved foods and run for the hills to live with the badgermoles as she waited for Aang’s arrival.</p>
<p>“I knew you’d come, even if you hadn’t come back like me, because you said that spirit swamp told you to find me,” Toph concluded, lounging on the throne-like seat she’d created for herself.</p>
<p>Around her, the others sat on simpler stone seats Aang had earthbended for the rest of them. A circle of sunlight shone over them from a window Aang had formed in the ceiling of the cavern they were in.</p>
<p>“I glad you got here when you did,” Toph added before anyone else could say anything. “I was starting to miss eating fresh food – even if Sugar Queen’s cooking can be questionable sometimes.”</p>
<p>She waggled her fingers and grinned in Katara’s direction.</p>
<p>“Hey!” Katara began, before giving up and beginning to laugh alongside her friends.</p>
<p>“So, what’s the plan?” Toph asked when the laughter died down. “Now that you’ve found me, where are we going next?”</p>
<p>“Omashu!” Aang replied without missing a beat. “I need to tell Bumi I’m alive!”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yay everyone's here! Now the fun really begins</p>
<hr/>
<p>I hope everyone enjoyed reading the slice-of-life camping scene as much as I enjoyed writing it. Can you believe that wasn't originally in my plot outline?</p>
<p>Here are some notes that were in the outline though, and I thought I'd share them bc they're pretty funny and made it into the actual plot almost as is:</p>
<p>ON KYOSHI ISLAND<br/>Zuko: *gets fake ambushed*<br/>Suki: this is revenge for burning down my village<br/>Zuko: I didn't even do it this time<br/>Everyone: we know, still never letting you live it down, welcome to the gaang again</p>
<p>IN GAOLING<br/>All of Gaoling is laughing at Lao Beifong’s misfortune bc he’s usually a stuck up prick and the gaang good cop/bad cop a person for info</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have no idea when the next update will be.<br/>In the meantime you can find me as  <a href="chasingbutterfliesintoeternity.tumblr.com">chasingbutterfliesintoeternity</a> on tumblr for the occasional fanart. Be warned though, I'm barely active over there either these days, but I will respond if you send me an ask.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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